The year of the Doge? 2021 was cryptocurrency's wildest year yet

 Dogecoin, launched in 2013 as a bitcoin spinoff, soared over 12,000 percent to an all-time high in May before slumping almost 80 percent by mid-December

Bitcoin close to $70,000, “meme coins” worth billions of dollars, a blockbuster Wall Street listing, and a sweeping Chinese crackdown: 2021 was the wildest yet for cryptocurrencies, even by the sector’s volatile standards.

Here is a look at some of the major trends that dominated cryptocurrencies this year.

Bitcoin: Still no.1

The original cryptocurrency held its crown as the biggest and most well-known token —though not without a host of challengers biting at its heels.

Bitcoin soared over 120 percent from January 1 to a then-record of almost $65,000 in mid-April. Fuelling it was a tsunami of cash from institutional investors, growing acceptance by major corporations such as Tesla and Mastercard, and an increasing embrace by Wall Street banks.

Spurring investor interest was Bitcoin’s purported inflation-proof qualities — it has a capped supply — as record-breaking stimulus packages fuelled rising prices

The top technology buzzwords of 2021

 Will Metaverse, Web 3.0, Blockchain, and NFT change everything as promised by expanding our virtual universe? Or they are only hype? Find out about these technologies which became buzzwords of 2021

Metaverse
‘Metaverse’ broadly refers to shared, immersive digital environments where people can meet, create, socialize, work, buy goods and services, and attend events with other people who are not in the same physical space. A true metaverse is meant to perfectly replicate real life, although it is unclear how many more years it will take to develop. The term metaverse was coined in the dystopian novel ‘Snow Crash’ three decades ago. It gained recognition this year after social media giant Facebook renamed itself Meta to reflect its new metaverse focus.

Web 3.0
Called the next version of the internet, Web 3.0 will be built on the concept of decentralization, openness, and greater user utility. It will be based on the blockchain record-keeping technology, where users would have ownership stakes in platforms and applications. In retrospect, the current version of the world wide web or Web 2.0 is characterized by social media platforms, which allow the greater proliferation of user-generated content.

This is a far cry from Web 1.0, which was all static and non-interactive -- an entirely top-down approach towards information dissemination.

RIL subsidiary acquires UK-based battery technology firm Faradion

 Faradion Limited is a leading global battery technology firm that has patents of sodium-ion battery technology

Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd, a Reliance Industries subsidiary, has acquired 100% shareholding in UK-based firm Faradion Limited for GBP 100 million. Reliance will spend an additional GBP 25 million to accelerate its rollout, Reliance Industries said in a press release.

Faradic Limited is a leading global battery technology firm that has patents on sodium-ion battery technology. The Sheffield and Oxford-based firm have a wide range of IP portfolios covering several aspects of sodium-ion technology.

The technology provides next-generation, high density, safe, sustainable, and low-cost energy storage technology solutions, the company said.

Reliance will use Faradion’s state-of-the-art technology at its proposed fully integrated energy storage giga-factory as part of the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex project in Jamnagar, the Mukesh Ambani-led firm said.

On the acquisition, Ambani said, "We welcome Faradion and its experienced team to Reliance family. This will further strengthen and build upon our ambition to create one of the most advanced and integrated New Energy ecosystems and put India at the forefront of leading battery technologies."

Ambani also said that Faradion's technology will help secure India's energy storage requirements for its fast-growing renewable energy and EV charging market.

Mercedes, BMW, IBM, Panasonic to skip in-person events at CES 2022

 BMW, IBM, Panasonic, and Mercedes have joined the growing list of tech companies who have decided not to attend the 'CES 2022' in person in Las Vegas

BMW, IBM, Panasonic, and Mercedes have joined the growing list of tech companies who have decided not to attend the 'CES 2022' in-person in Las Vegas, as cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant have continued to surge.

While Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the governing body on CES, plans to go ahead with the show, several tech companies like OnePlus, AMD, MSI, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Lenovo, T-Mobile, AT&T, Meta, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok, Pinterest, Alphabet-owned Waymo, along with several media outlets, will not attend the consumer electronics show.

"Out of an abundance of caution, BMW will move all planned media activities at CES to a fully online program from Germany on January 5," BMW said in a statement to The Verge.

In addition, fellow German automaker Mercedes-Benz is going to skip the in-person event as well.

In a statement, Panasonic North America CEO Megan Myungwon Lee says, "The health and safety of our employees, partners, and customers remain our top priority. With this commitment in mind, we have updated our hybrid CES activation plans maintaining a modified physical footprint, with limited on-site staff, following CTA's health safety protocols as well as our own proactive measures to ensure the health and well-being of attendees."

The CTA told TechCrunch that over 2,200 companies are confirmed to participate in person at 'CES 2022' in Las Vegas.

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert, one of the CES 2022's featured speakers, announced that his company won't be attending the world's largest electronics show next month.

The world's most influential tech event is slated to showcase some first-time innovations around Blockchain-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs), remote health solutions, self-driving cars, gaming, food, and space tech.

IDFC First Bank board favours merger with promoter entities

 Earlier in July, the Reserve Bank of India allowed IDFC Ltd to exit as the promoter of IDFC First Bank as the five year lock-in period ended

IDFC First Bank on Thursday said its board has favored the merger of IDFC Ltd and IDFC Financial Holding Co Ltd (promoter group) with the bank.

The board of directors of the bank in a meeting held on December 30, 2021, considered the proposal for the merger of IDFC Ltd and IDFC Financial Holding Co Ltd (promoter group) with IDFC First Bank, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

"We are, in principle, in favor of the merger, subject to the approval of the board of directors, shareholders, creditors, and statutory and regulatory approvals of the respective entities," the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The private sector lender said the board has constituted and authorized a committee -- Capital Raise and Corporate Restructuring Committee -- to work on the terms of the proposed merger.

This will include finalization of the scheme, valuation, hiring advisors among others.

Earlier in July, the Reserve Bank of India allowed IDFC Ltd to exit as the promoter of IDFC First Bank as the five-year lock-in period ended, and paved the way for a potential reverse merger between two entities.

CMS Info Systems debuts on a listless note, stock trades near issue price

 The company's IPO had received a lukewarm response from investors, with the share sale subscribed 1.95 times.

CMS Info Systems debuted on a mildly positive note in an otherwise firm market. The stock was listed at Rs 218.50 on the BSE - a 1.2 per cent premium to its issue price of Rs 216 per share.

As of 10:07 am, the stock had hit a high of Rs 226.60, and a low of Rs 215.55 on the BSE. The stock quoted almost flat at Rs 216.70 with volumes of around 5.75 lakh shares. Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark index, the Sensex was up 0.7 per cent at 58,224.

CMS Info Systems IPO had received a lukewarm response from investors, with the share sale subscribed 1.95 times. The retail investors' quota was subscribed 2.15 times. The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) and Non-institutional investors (NICs) was subscribed 1.98 times and 1.45 times, respectively.

The Rs 1,100 crore IPO was a complete offer for sale by the promoter Sion Investment Holdings, an affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia.

The company is one of the largest cash management companies in India, in terms of the number of ATM points and the number of retail pick-up points as of March 2021. It is also one of the largest ATM cash management companies worldwide based on the number of ATM points as of FY21.

For the fiscal year ended March 2021, the company had reported a 25.1 percent jump in net profit to Rs 168.52 crore as against Rs 134.70 crore in FY20. Total income, however, was down 5.6 percent at Rs 1,306.09 crore from Rs 1,383.24 crore.

What leadership transition means for Reliance Industries

 Asia's richest man has announced a leadership transition at Reliance Industries. Ambani's children are already playing different roles in the company. Find out what this transition means for Reliance

Mukesh Ambani has seen the succession battle from very close quarters. In 2002, when his father died without writing a will, he was locked in one such bitter confrontation with his brother Anil Ambani. After over three years of the face-off, a family pact divided the Reliance businesses between the two brothers.

So now, at 64, Ambani doesn’t want to take any chances. About a month ago, several reports had surfaced that the Reliance chairman was planning to move his family’s `holding into a trust-like structure. Similar to what some other billionaire families like Waltons and Kochs did.

Now, Ambani has hinted that the preparatory phase for handing over the baton of his business empire to his three kids is coming to an end. His children have been increasingly playing more visible roles at the company - from speaking about the future roadmap at AGMs to brokering billion-dollar deals.

And he chose his father’s birth anniversary, December 28, to make the big announcement. The family marks the day as Reliance Family Day.

In what cements the future roles of his three Ivy League-educated children Isha, Akash, and Anant at Reliance, Ambani said he had no doubt they would lead Reliance to even greater heights.

It is the first time that Ambani has spoken publicly about succession planning at his $215 billion business empire.

While he has not disclosed any timeline to step back from his responsibilities, the latest speech shows that the time for his children to take up major roles at Reliance is almost here after years of grooming.

The magic of new-age offers & Sebi on new IPO norms

 The year 2021 was one of the most remarkable years for the primary markets. Nearly Rs 1.2 trillion had been mopped up till early December by 66 companies, beating the previous best of Rs 74,035 crore seen in 2017.

New-age companies including Paytm, Zomato, and Nykaa raised approximately Rs 46,800 crore of this amount, cornering approximately 40 per cent of the fundraising.
While Zomato started the trend of new-age firms debuting on the India bourses, it was Paytm that launched India’s biggest-ever IPO worth Rs 18,300 crore.
Policybazaar, Nykaa, Nazara Technologies, CarTrade Tech, and Easy Trip Planners were some of the other companies that followed suit.
Going forward, about 16 new-age start-ups are lined up to go public including Oyo, Snapdeal, Ola, Mobikwik, PharmEasy, Ixigo, and Delhivery. However, the road for these companies will not be as easy as their predecessors.
Since the appalling investor response to the initial public offer of Paytm, new-age companies have decided to re-assess their IPO sizes and valuation.
MobiKwik, for instance, delayed its IPO after Paytm’s listing debacle.

While the cautious market mood was one reason, the company decided to wait for its December financial report to back the valuation it seeks.
On its part, markets regulator Sebi earlier this week approved changes to preferential allotment norms on pricing and lock-in period for anchor investors in an IPO.

Retail-led credit growth faces headwinds: RBI's financial stability report

 After steller IPOs, market corrections drove down valuations of new-age companies. What led to this

divergence? What do changes in the lock-in period for anchor investors in an IPO mean? Let's find out

Lenders turned big time to the retail segment — individuals, households, and small businesses — to expand loan books as wholesale demand dried up due to sluggish investment and excess capacity.

But, the retail-led credit growth model in India is beginning to face headwinds due to two factors, according to the Financial Stability Report (FSR).

The first is an increase in delinquencies in the consumer finance portfolio. The second factor is a slowdown in the new credit segment, a key driver of consumer credit growth in the pre-pandemic period.

According to historical data, non-performing assets in emerging markets typically peak six to eight quarters after the onset of a severe recession.

Impairment in consumer credit, measured in terms of the proportion of the portfolio at 90 days past due or beyond, shows signs of stabilization after the pandemic. But this stabilization is at a fairly higher level for public sector banks, relative to other lender categories.

Delinquency levels in terms of product types point to a general deterioration across product category levels in September 2021 relative to September 2020, with the credit card segment being the only exception.

General lending standards in the industry have been tightened across lender category levels, leading to a drop in approval rates as also moderation in the growth of balances, it added.

Bank NPAs may go beyond 8% by September 2022, says RBI report

 Going forward, as the economy recovers and credit demand rises, banks will need to ensure the availability of sufficient capital to support credit growth

Bad loans of commercial banks in India may rise to between 8.1 and 9.5 per cent under varying degrees of stress by September 2022 from 6.9 per cent in September 2021.

Yet, banks are generally well placed to weather credit-related shocks with sufficient capital, both at the aggregate and individual levels. This is possible even under stress, according to the Financial Stability Report (FSR).

FSR, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) bi-annual report, said though banks are in better shape, urban cooperative banks (UCBs) and finance companies present a more varied picture.

Going forward, as the economy recovers and credit demand rises, banks will need to ensure the availability of sufficient capital to support credit growth.

Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and UCBs will have to be mindful of frailties on the liquidity front and ensure robust asset-liability management, apart from improving the quality of their credit portfolios.

Considering the significant share of funding absorbed by NBFCs at the system level, continued attention to their financial health is warranted in the interest of financial stability.

Gross non-performing assets (gross NPAs) of commercial banks fell from 7.5 per cent in March 2021 to 6.9 per cent at the end-September 2021.

Bajaj Auto sets up Rs 300 crore EV manufacturing facility in Pune

 Akurdi is the site of the original Chetak scooter factory that made Bajaj Auto a household name in India

Bajaj Auto on Wednesday announced an investment of Rs 300 crore as it commenced work at its brand-new unit at Akurdi, Pune, for manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs). The unit, which is spread over an area of half a million square feet, will employ nearly 800 people and have a production capacity of 500,000 EVs a year.

“In 2001, Bajaj 2.0 took off on the roaring Pulsar. In 2021, Bajaj 3.0 has arrived on the charming Chetak. Going forward, for the Bajaj portfolio, except for implementing one state-of-the-art ICE platform that is currently under development, all our R&D resources are now laser-focused on creating EV solutions for the future. This alignment reflects our belief that light EVs for sustainable urban mobility is an idea whose time may finally have come,” Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, said.

Akurdi is the site of the original Chetak scooter factory that made Bajaj Auto a household name in India. The first vehicle from the unit is expected to roll out by June 2022.

The investments made by Bajaj will be supplemented by a number of vendors, who will invest a further Rs 250 crore, the company said.
Of late, several automakers in India, including Bajaj, have approved the incorporation of wholly-owned subsidiaries to venture into the manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicles. Bajaj’s rivals Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motors, though slowly, are making steady progress to have a stable EV business alongside their traditional IC engine products.

Hero said its EV project is going on as per plans, and the Chittoor manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh is gearing up to produce the EVs. The teams at Hero are focused on working across the entire EV ecosystem, such as battery technology and battery management systems, powertrain, telematics, analytics & diagnostics, and charging infrastructure, according to a statement by the company. The development of EV is happening under Hero’s emerging mobility business unit (EMBU), which is set for the launch of the first EV product by March 2022.

Apple puts Foxconn factory on probation after food-poisoning incident

 Foxconn also accepted that its dormitory facilities did not meet the required standards

Almost two weeks after a food-poisoning incident at Foxconn’s hostel in Sriperumbudur which led to hospitalizations, protests, and arrests, the company and its local officials were in the line of fire on Wednesday. While Apple said that it has put the Tamil Nadu unit, which manufactures iPhones, on “probation” because its hostels did not meet the American tech giant’s compliance norms, the Taiwanese multinational announced restructuring of the local management team.

Foxconn also accepted that its dormitory facilities did not meet the required standards. The food poisoning incident early this month had affected around 260 people and 159 were hospitalized. Following this, Apple had appointed an independent auditor to undertake additional detailed assessments.

“Foxconn’s Sriperu­mbudur facility has been placed on probation and we will ensure our strict standards are met before the facility reopens. We will continue to monitor conditions closely,” said an Apple spokesperson. Apple said it found the accommodation and dining facilities at the unit did not meet the compliance requirements.

“We hold our suppliers accountable to the highest standards in the industry and regularly conduct assessments to ensure compliance. We found that some of the remote dormitory accommodations and dining rooms being used for employees do not meet our requirements and we are working with the supplier to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions are rapidly implemented,” he added.

After Apple’s statement, Foxconn acted quickly. It first apologized to its employees and then announced to restructure its local management. The details of this top-level rejig were not revealed. “We are very sorry for the issue our employees experienced and are taking immediate steps to enhance the facilities and services we provide at the remote dormitory accommodations,” said a statement by Foxconn Technology Group. “We are also restructuring our local management team and our management systems to ensure we can achieve and maintain the high standards that are needed.”

Re-import of steel cylinders should be exempted from SIMS registration

 See no reason to cover re-imports of such Indian origin goods under SIMS

We export gases in cylinders that are manufactured in India. The cylinders are returned to us by our customers for further refilling. Every time, we re-import the cylinders, the Customs ask us to get the registration under the Steel Imports Monitoring System (SIMS) on the grounds that it applies to all items falling under chapters 73, 73, and 86 of the ITC (HS). For every registration under SIMS, we have to pay fees of Rs 1 per thousand on the CIF value of the cylinders, subject to a minimum of Rs 500/- and a maximum of Rs 1 lakh. This increases our cost of doing business. We want to know if the SIMS procedure is applicable for Indian origin material also.

The Commerce Ministry notifications no.17/2015-20 dated 5th September 2019 and 33/2015-20 dated 28th September 2020 make no exception for registration under SIMS for re-import of steel items. In reply to a question ‘Do Indian origin goods processed in a foreign country need a license when re-entering India?’ the FAQ on SIMS issued by the DGFT says. ‘Yes, all steel products that are entering into India require prior registration before imports’. In your case, no processing is done abroad. I see no reason to cover re-imports of such Indian-origin goods under SIMS. I suggest you represent the matter to the DGFT, the Commerce Ministry, and the Steel Ministry.

Two months back, we imported certain capital goods under EPCG authorization. Now, we want to send the same to our own SEZ unit. Can we do it in accordance with DGFT Public Notice no.31 dated 29th August 2018?

In my opinion, that PN applies for shifting the capital goods from one DTA unit to another DTA unit. Sending goods from the DTA unit to SEZ unit is treated as exports. As per Para 5.25(a) of HBP, ‘Capital Goods imported under EPCG scheme, which is found defective or unfit for use, maybe re-exported to foreign supplier within three years from the date of clearance by Customs of such goods, with permission of RA/Customs Authority. Consequently, EO would be re-fixed. This provision applies for goods found defective or unsuitable for use. Also, it allows re-export only to the same supplier and not to any other party. So, you may approach the EPCG Committee for permission to transfer the capital goods to your own SEZ unit. Alternatively, you may pay the full duty and re-export the goods to your own SEZ unit under claim of duty drawback under Section 74 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Market analysts sound caution on RBL Bank

 It was a choppy trading session on Monday with indices recovered sharply from their day's lows. Year-end holidays across major markets and the Omicron threat capped the gains. What's in store for Tuesday?

The key benchmark indices staged a smart recovery on Monday helped by steady gains in private banks and IT shares. The Sensex gained 969 points from the day’s low, to settle 296 points higher at 57,420, and the NSE Nifty ended with a gain of 82 points at 17,086. Debutant HP Adhesives ended at Rs 335 - a 22 per cent premium to its issue price of Rs 274 per share.
Shares of RBL Bank hit a 52-week low at Rs 132.35, slipping as much as 23.2 per cent in Monday’s intra-day trade after the bank said over the weekend that Vishwavir Ahuja, its managing director, and chief executive officer, had gone on leave and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had appointed Yogesh K Dayal as an additional director of the bank.
The development saw most analysts sound cautious as regards the road ahead for the bank and suggest the December 2021 quarter results may provide the much-needed sentiment support to the counter. The RBI, too, on its part allayed investors’ fears saying that the bank remains on a sound footing.
According to brokerage CLSA: "We believe that with such a transition, banks with the RBI’s permission should give more solid reasoning for the actions of the regulator as minority investors are important stakeholders.

Its 2HFY22 results will be the key in bringing about stability and comfort."
Over the next few days, given the trading holidays owing to the year-end celebrations globally, volume especially from the FII segment is likely to remain thin. However, the key benchmark indices are prone to sudden sharp swings given the uncertain news flow on developments around the Omicron variant and the monthly F&O expiry.

Indian bankers collect bumper fees from record $18 billion in IPOs

 A little over 110 firms ranging from online grocers to food delivery and beauty startups listed their shares in Mumbai this year, raising almost $18 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg

Indian investment bankers are set for their best year ever, collecting almost 26 billion rupees ($347 million) in fees from local initial public offerings that have reached an all-time high in 2021.
A little over 110 companies ranging from online grocers to food delivery and beauty startups listed their shares in Mumbai this year, raising almost $18 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The fees raked in by banks steering those first-time share sales are more than four times the previous record in 2017, figures provided by the New Delhi-based Prime Database show.

“It was an extraordinarily busy year, something I haven’t seen in my 30-year career,” said Jayasankar Venkataraman, head of equity capital markets at Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. in Mumbai. “Investment bankers carried work home and they weren’t fully switched off.”

The IPO surge, coming amid a rally in the benchmark local stock index that hit a record in October, was led by companies including One 97 Communications Ltd., Zomato Ltd., and PB Fintech Ltd. The wave of listings in India has tracked the wider trend in Asia, where companies have raised about $181 billion this year, an unprecedented level.

One 97 offers digital payments services under the brand Paytm; Zomato is a food delivery startup; and, PB Fintech runs an online insurance marketplace called Policybazaar.

How may Omicron affect the recovery of the hospitality sector?

 The world is ringing in New Year amid rising Covid infection. And so is the hospitality industry, which was hoping to recover losses with year-end revelry. Let's look at what it means for the sector

India’s Omicron case tally reached 578 on Monday, although no death has been reported so far. And the active cases stood at 75,841. The trend is similar, and the period too. The end of 2020 was also marked under the shadow of Covid-19, which took a deadly turn by March-April, claiming lakhs of lives.

So, as the world is venturing into another unknown territory, nations are taking steps to avert what is known to all now -- the havoc that the pandemic can cause. The WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has summed it well: ‘An event canceled is better than a life canceled.’

But amid all this, businesses and the livelihood of crores of people are also being affected. The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) estimates that over 20-30% of establishments in the organized sector comprising around 60,000 hotels and 5 lakh restaurants have already shut shop since the outbreak of the pandemic.

On Monday, the Centre issued another set of advisory to all the states and UTs, saying that they may consider imposing need-based, local curbs and restrictions, to control the crowd during the festive season.

Several states including Delhi, UP, and Maharashtra have already imposed night curfew. Mumbai civic authorities have banned New Year celebrations in closed or open spaces. Starting January 1, Haryana is banning access to public places for both the unvaccinated and single-dose vaccinated.

While dozens of countries have started giving booster shots, India will start administering them as a precautionary measure to healthcare and frontline workers from January 10.

It all has come at a time when the hospitality sector was steadily inching towards some normalcy.

CP Gurnani's plan for Tech Mahindra amid Covid-19 uncertainty

 In an interview with Business Standard's Surajeet Das Gupta, Tech Mahindra's CEO and Managing Director CP Gurnani shared his company's plans for growth amid the ongoing uncertainty caused by Covid-19

Q: Has Covid and now the possibility of another wave impacted your business or provided Tech Mahindra with new opportunities?
Ans:
>50% of TechM’s revenue comes from telecom service providers and the telecom ecosystem

>Telcos need to work on network up-gradation, for 5G value addition
>New platforms will drive consumption of telecom
>WFH will make customers appreciate network service providers

>TechM’s area of focus
-5G and software-defined networks
-5G in enterprise
-Network up-gradation by service providers
-Digital platform for telcos

Q: You are a large player in the Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) space for 4G and 5G. But recently you have sold off your 50 percent stake in Altiostar which was a key player in the ORAN technology space to Rakuten. Is there a change in strategy?
Ans:
>Number of players in the Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) space has increased
>Microsoft, VMware, and Mavenir who have their own ORAN ecosystem
>Strategy: Not an execution partner to one, instead execute with the leading players
>Rakuten is one of TechM’s biggest partners

Q: A lot of the telecom companies in India are building their own 5G networks, such as Jio and Airtel. Airtel has a tie-up with the Tatas and Jio with others. Is that the model you will go with? Or has the door for you to do business with Indian telcos closed?
Ans:
>All players trying to find viable proofs of concept at a certain scale and volume
>The execution partner to all players, including Airtel and Jio
>Focus not on product; Tatas, not a competition

Q: One key problem you always tend to face is the people problem – getting in more people, training them. As growth happens, attrition grows. What is the situation in Tech Mahindra? How are you tackling this issue?
Ans:
>Talent is an industry-wide issue
>A talent war is underway
>Opening up offices in Tier 2 cities
>Presence in emerging markets
>Find young talents and participate in their career development

Q: Do you see Tech Mahindra breaking into the top three IT services companies in terms of revenues in the coming future?
Ans:
>I have not stopped dreaming and I have not stopped executing

Android 13 to offer improvements in audio streaming via Bluetooth: Report

 Android 12 has brought a lot of additional features and now a new report claims that the next-gen Android 13 platform will offer major improvements in audio streaming through Bluetooth.

Android 12 has brought a lot of additional features and now a new report claims that the next-gen Android 13 platform will offer major improvements in audio streaming through Bluetooth.

Google has merged the LE Audio codec (LC3) and has added it to system settings as a new option. When connecting to an audio device, the codec will take the highest priority, meaning that supported devices will try to establish a LE Audio connection before any other, reports Android Police.

For those unaware, Bluetooth LE Audio is quite notable since it can potentially massively improve battery life while still offering a stable connection that doesn't compromise on audio quality.

In addition, Bluetooth LE Audio would also enable support for multiple streams through more than one pair of headphones.

Google recently announced a preview of Android 12L, which may sound like a new version of Android, but Google calls it "a special feature drop that makes Android 12 even better on large screens".

The idea here is to provide users on tablets, foldables and Chrome OS laptops -- anything with a screen above 600 dp -- with an improved user interface.

The developer preview of Android 12L is now available for developers who want to give it a try, as well as a new Android 12L emulator and support for it in Android Studio.

Google plans to release 12L early next year, "in time for the next wave of Android 12 tablets and foldable".

In addition to Android 12L, Google also announced new features in OS and Play for developers to better support these devices.

What are the different types of loans?

 According to the RBI, banks have written off over Rs 2 lakh crore of bad loans in the fiscal ended March 2021. Find out more about the types of loans and when they are categorized as bad

People borrow money for various reasons. It could be to expand their business, to fund higher education, to buy a home or car, to get a ring for their girlfriend or wife.

Loans generally fall into two categories, secured and unsecured. Let us first understand what a secure loan is.

Secured loans are those for which a borrower keeps some asset as surety or collateral to borrow money. Collateral can be your car, your home, or anything that is valuable.

It simply means that in the event of default, the lender can use the asset to repay the funds it has advanced the borrower.

Common types of secured loans are mortgages and auto loans, in which the item being financed becomes the collateral for the financing. With a car loan, if the borrower defaults on the payment, the loan issuer can seize the vehicle.

When an individual or business takes a mortgage, the property in question is used to back the repayment terms. In fact, the lending institution maintains equity in the property until the mortgage is paid in full. If the borrower defaults on the payments, the lender can seize the property and sell it to recoup the funds owed.

WeWork India 2021 revenue up 33%; plans to add over 20K desks next year

 Coworking major WeWork India's revenue rose by 33 percent to over Rs 800 crore this year and is expected to grow further in 2022 on improved demand for its flexible workspaces, a company official said.

Coworking major WeWork India's revenue rose by 33 percent to over Rs 800 crore this year and is expected to grow further in 2022 on improved demand for its flexible workspaces, a company official said.

In an interview with PTI, WeWork India Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Karan Virwani outlined his vision to make the company a "one-stop-shop" to meet all requirements related to the workspace.

Looking at the growing demand for flexibility, he said the company would expand its portfolio by one million square feet area with a capacity of about 20,000 desks.

At present, it operates a 5 million square feet area at 36 locations comprising 64,000 seating capacity. It currently has a presence in six major cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Virwani highlighted that the recovery in the flexible workspace segment after the second wave of the COVID pandemic has been very strong.

The occupancy level at its various coworking centers has reached more than 75 percent, enabling its entire portfolio to become profitable in November month.

"We were able to grow our business to over Rs 800 crore topline for this calendar year and as of last month we became profitable," he said.

Virwani said the company had clocked close to Rs 600 crore revenue in the last calendar year.

He highlighted that the demand has rebounded strongly to breach even the pre-COVID level.

Weekend events are not linked to RBL Bank's asset quality: Interim chief

 Vishwavir Ahuja on "medical leave", hunt for a successor on, says bank

RBL Bank’s interim chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) Rajeev Ahuja on Sunday tried to allay concerns around the health of the bank. He said events during the weekend are not linked to RBL’s asset quality.

The bank said Vishwavir Ahuja, its managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), had on Saturday proceeded on leave with immediate effect on medical grounds.

After Viswavir’s resignation, the bank appointed executive director (ED) Rajeev Ahuja interim MD & CEO on Saturday, subject to regulatory and other approvals. The bank’s board of directors is currently engaged in finding Rajeev’s successor, a process that may take four to six months.

In an analysts’ call, Rajeev said there are five-seven people in the management team that are in the fray to take over as full-time MD & CEO. Besides the internal pool, the board will also consider external candidates, the management said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also appointed Yogesh Dayal, its chief general manager, as additional director on the board of RBL Bank for a two-year term on Saturday.

The financial position of RBL Bank remains robust with capital adequacy at 16.3 percent. It will be in a similar range this quarter (Q3FY22). RBL Bank will take a call on further capital raising after FY22. From FY23, the annual growth is expected to be 15-18 percent, the management added.

NHAI arm may award 15 logistics park deals over the next three years

 The SPV, formed under the guidance of the road ministry, aims to address typical cost overruns with infrastructure projects

National Highways and Logistics Management Ltd (NHLML), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) fully owns, plans to award 15 more contracts on multimodal logistics parks over the next three years in public-private partnership (PPP) model. The parks will have a 50:50 funding model.

“There are 35 multimodal logistics parks planned across the country with a capital allocation of Rs 50,000 crore. Tenders are being issued for Chennai, Bengaluru, Indore, and Nagpur this fiscal year. The Jogigopha logistics park in Assam has started construction (this is over and above the 15 to be awarded),” Prakash Gaur, chief executive officer (CEO), NHLML, said.

The SPV, formed under the guidance of the road ministry, aims to address typical cost overruns with infrastructure projects. Cost overruns happen because of the time lag between awards of projects and their commencement. This logistics project is part of the Rs 7-trillion mega infrastructure project launched this month.

A multimodal logistics park is one part of the five-corner logistics project envisaged, with wayside amenities, intermodal stations, ropeways, and optical fiber cable infrastructure being its other constituents.

“We will be prepared with all approvals in place before the project is awarded in terms of land acquisition, the environment nod, and railways approvals, along with power and water supplies. From the appointed date, both parties (private as well as the government) will have completed work to some extent with private players having their technical and financial closure in place. This will ensure there is no time lag in commencing projects once awarded,” he said. The CEO said large players, domestic and international, were participating in the business of logistics parks. He, however, did not give details.

Dues of four airlines to AAI rose over twofold since January 2020

 Vistara and IndiGo have clarified that all their dues have been cleared, while SpiceJet said its dues are well within credit limits.

Dues of four major domestic airlines -- IndiGo, SpiceJet, Go First, and AirAsia India -- to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) more than doubled between January 2020 and October 2021, according to internal AAI documents.

Air India, however, continues to be the domestic carrier with the highest amount of dues to the AAI. As per the documents, Air India's dues to the AAI have increased from Rs 2,183.71 crore as of January 1, 2020, to Rs 2,362.36 crore as of October 31, 2021.

An airline has to pay various charges like air navigation, landing, parking, etc to the AAI to use facilities at any of its more than 100 airports. Both Air India and the AAI work under the Civil Aviation Ministry.

The government had on October 8 announced that the Tata Group has won the bid to acquire Air India. The Centre is expected to hand over Air India to the Tatas in the first half of 2022.

India has six major domestic carriers, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia India, Air India, and Vistara, which owed the AAI a total of Rs 2,306.59 crore as of January 1, 2020, the AAI documents -- which has been accessed by PTI -- noted.

The dues of these six major domestic carriers taken together increased by 14.29 percent to Rs 2,636.34 crore by October 31, 2021, the documents added.

Vistara and IndiGo have clarified that all their dues have been cleared, while SpiceJet said its dues are well within credit limits.

India's largest carrier IndiGo owed Rs 80.69 crore as in October 2021, as against Rs 33.21 crore in January 2021, they mentioned.

Asked about this, an IndiGo spokesperson told PTI: "As per our records, all outstanding to the AAI as of October 31, 2021, has been duly paid within the due date."

Covid-19 to policy tightening: Events that shaped equity markets in 2021

 The year 2021 was all about fighting the pandemic, staging an economic recovery, and maintaining your finances well. Let's recap all that shaped the markets this year and the lessons for 2022

Covid-19, inflationary concerns, policy tightening, and IPOs -- these words can largely sum up the roller coaster year that 2021 was for equity markets.
Despite a brief period of slowdown in the economic activity, owing to partial lockdown in the early part of the year, equity markets staged an empyreal rally in 2021.
The Sensex hit a record high of 62,245 on October 19 while the Nifty 50 index claimed a lifetime high of 18,604.
The market cap of all listed companies grew about $1 trillion during the year to as much as $3.56 trillion, with India almost breaking into the elite top-five club in terms of market cap.
That apart, the slowdown in China, chip shortages, crude oil price rise, commodity inflation, and global central banks turning hawkish were some of the global factors that shaped the markets this year, he says.
This blink-and-miss rally was largely supported by MFs and retail investors.
As per data compiled by HDFC Securities, India had about 77 million Demat accounts at the end of November this year, while SIP accounts at the end of the previous month were 48 million.
There were about 29 million active broking clients and about 117 million mutual fund folios.
Total equity mutual fund assets under management stood at Rs 1,320 billion.
Ajit Mishra, VP-Research at Religare Broking attributes this stunning participation inequity to the lack of other investment avenues.
And not just secondary market, retail and FPI activity was remarkable in the primary market this year.

Worst over for economic recovery-related stocks

 Govt actions to contain the spread of Omicron has hit the contact-intensive sectors again. On the bourses, the related shares fell sharply in one month. Find out why investors are still optimistic

Just when the world thought it was slowly, but steadily, returning to the ‘old-normal’, the new variant of coronavirus showed us the pandemic wasn’t over. Not just yet. Omicron, labeled as a ‘Variant of Concern’ by the World Health Organisation, was first detected in South Africa in late November.
On Wednesday, state governments stepped up their guards with fresh curbs on religious and social gatherings, a day after the Centre asked states to activate war rooms to tackle the rising Omicron threat.

They also limited capacity in restaurants and bars and ordered vigil on the ground
And since then, governments across the globe have put up guards to stem its spread. Travel restrictions, limited seating capacities, and ban of unvaccinated citizens from visiting public places – governments have been quick in their bid to contain the spread.
And these fears have yet again hit the contact-intensive sectors, which are still recovering from the wounds of the pandemic waves. The sentiment resonated on the bourses, too, where shares of companies involved in hospitality, travel, and entertainment have fallen like nine pins in one month.
Barring Lemon Tree Hotels, which managed to rise 11% during the past month, all the key recovery-related players from the BSE500 space tanked on the bourses. The shares of SpiceJet were the worst hit as they declined nearly 24%, others including IndiGo, Mahindra Holiday, and PVR dropped between eight and 18%. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was down less than 3%.
However, with the severity of the virus still unknown, the near-term outlook for these sectors remains in limbo. Analysts, on their part, too, remain watchful of the evolving situation even though they remain optimistic on these players from a long-term perspective. For instance, Gaurav Dua, who is Head - Capital Market Strategy at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, believes the worst may be behind recovery-related players.

What is Web 3.0 and why it is being called next generation internet?

 2021 had some new terms that entered the common lexicon, like cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), metaverse, and Web 3.0. Let's understand Web 3.0 and how it may change the future of the internet

The current version of the world wide web or Web 2.0 is characterized by social media platforms, which allow the greater proliferation of user-generated content. This is a far cry from Web 1.0, which was all static and non-interactive -- an entirely top-down approach towards information dissemination.
Right now, five big tech companies, namely, Twitter, Facebook (now Meta), Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, control how our data will be used and where it will be stored and processed. Their algorithms decide the information that we consume, which has left alarm bells ringing.
Now, Web 3.0, with its crypto, blockchain, and metaverse use cases, is being touted as a movement that will wrest back the control of the internet from the five big tech companies. Instead of our data residing with centralized organizations today, Web 3.0 would see it residing on blockchain networks and thus, being owned by users themselves.
It could be as simple as a user based in India and another based in the US, having a business meeting inside a virtual reality metaverse such as Decentraland, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain. They could then complete their planned business deal using their crypto wallets linked to their metaverse accounts. And that’s that. Facebook realizes that this is the future of the internet, hence it's rebranding to Meta.
Such is the craze around metaverse that people and organizations are spending millions of dollars to buy land that only exists inside these virtual worlds. But it makes business sense. Because in the future when people are going to wear their VR headsets and meet inside these virtual worlds for social gatherings, music concerts, and art auctions, you need to land here for advertising and events.

What are Small Savings Schemes - types, teturns and interest rates

 Amid uncertainty in the equity-linked savings instruments, the government's small savings schemes offer safe and assured returns. What are these schemes? Let us understand in this explainer

Small Savings Schemes are a set of savings instruments managed by the central government with an aim to encourage citizens to save regularly irrespective of their age. They are popular as they not only provide returns that are generally higher than bank fixed deposits but also come with a sovereign guarantee and tax benefits.
Since 2016, the Finance Ministry has been reviewing the interest rates on small savings schemes on a quarterly basis. All deposits received under various small savings schemes are pooled in the National Small Savings Fund. The money in the fund is used by the central government to finance its fiscal deficit. Now let us take a look at the different savings schemes.
The schemes can be grouped under three heads - Post office deposits, savings certificates, and social security schemes.
Under Post Office Deposits we have the savings deposit, recurring deposit, and time deposits with 1, 2, 3, and 5-year maturities and the monthly income account.
The savings account currently pays an interest of 4% per annum and can be opened individually or jointly with an initial investment of Rs 500.
The recurring deposit that pays 5.8% a year compounded quarterly matures after 60 months from the date of opening. It allows investors to save on a monthly basis with a minimum deposit of Rs 100 per month.
The post office time deposits are akin to fixed deposits. A minimum investment of Rs 1,000 is required to open a time deposit. The one-year, two-year, three-year time deposits fetch an interest rate of 5.5% while the five-year deposit earns 6.7% per annum.
Investments under the 5-year time deposit up to Rs 1.5 lakh further qualify for benefit under section 80C of the Income Tax Act.

Japan planning not to send senior officials to Beijing Olympics: Report

 The Japanese government has said it is not planning to send Cabinet ministers and other senior officials to the 2022 Beijing Olympics

The Japanese government has said it is not planning to send Cabinet ministers and other senior officials to the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

With this, Japan has joined the likes of the US, Australia, Britain, and Canada that have announced the diplomatic boycott of games over China's human rights records.

Japanese athletes, however, will attend the games in February as scheduled, Kyodo News reported citing sources.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will not announce the plan so as not to directly provoke the Chinese leadership, especially as Japan and China are due to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations in 2022, according to the government sources.

The United States and other countries such as Australia, Britain, and Canada have announced similar measures, citing China's human rights record.

The upcoming Beijing Olympics have been marred with controversy as activists and human rights defenders have been calling world leaders to boycott the event considering human rights situations in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Tibet.

The Japanese government has given up on a plan to send senior officials to the Beijing Games because it has seen little improvement in the human rights situations in the far western Xinjiang region and Hong Kong, the sources said.

Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he has no plans to attend the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Highest-ranked ESG fund in the UK is betting big on India, shows data

 India has a smaller carbon footprint than Europe and the US and is on track to increase investments in infrastructure and manufacturing

A major bet on India as a growth market for low-carbon projects just propelled a UK fund to the top of this year’s ESG rankings.

The Stewart Investors India Subcontinent Sustainability fund, which is domiciled in Britain but manages its £442 million ($592 million) of client money from Singapore, returned 31.2 per cent in the year through November according to Morningstar Inc. data. That’s better than any other UK fund using environmental, social, and governance investing strategies over the same period, according to Morningstar classifications.

India has a smaller carbon footprint than Europe and the US and is on track to increase investments in infrastructure and manufacturing, according to an analysis provided by Stewart Investors, which oversees a total of $25 billion. That outlook includes significant spending on renewable energy and low-carbon technologies, it said.

FIBAC 2021: India Inc spoilt for choice as funding avenues open up

 Panelists at FIBAC say banks lose monopoly of being the only source of funding to firms

Companies are increasingly becoming demanding seeking services and pricing, irrespective of their sizes, as banks lose the monopoly of being the only source of funding to firms, senior bankers discussed at Day 2 of FIBAC 2021.

“The corporates are now spoilt for choice. Banks, NBFCs, markets, and even private equity, everyone is willing to lend to corporates. And as the economy grows, the avenues are all going to expand,” said Ashwani Bhatia, managing director for corporate banking and global markets at State Bank of India.

Earlier, the large companies had this power, but increasingly medium-sized and even smaller companies are negotiating hard, the panelists said. This is a big change in the corporate lending environment in India, the panelists said.

Banks, as entities that lend using their balance sheet, must get a way to find a seat amidst the non-balance sheet lenders, said K V S Manian, whole-time director, and group president, corporate banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

“The clients are increasingly becoming more sophisticated and are always very, very demanding,” said K Balasubramanian, managing director and head of corporate banking group, South Asia, at Citi.

“If you look at the last three, four, or five years, this is not actually restricted only to the top clients but is straddling the entire line. Even the mid-market and the smaller clients are way more sophisticated. They are basically looking at banks for solutions and not for profits," Balasubramanian said. The solutions, too, are case-specific and banks have to now offer those, making customer engagement plans “extremely challenging.” The firms have become “very, very price-conscious”, but willing to give concessions for better quality advice.

Bankers agreed that talent is becoming the real differentiators, and the banking industry is leaning more towards specialists.

What is Log4j? An expert explains the latest internet vulnerability

 The software is used to record all manner of activities that go on under the hood in a wide range of computer systems

Log4Shell, an internet vulnerability that affects millions of computers, involves an obscure but nearly ubiquitous piece of software, Log4j. The software is used to record all manner of activities that go on under the hood in a wide range of computer systems.

Jen Easterly, director of the U. S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, called Log4Shell the most serious vulnerability she’s seen in her career. There have already been hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of attempts to exploit the vulnerability.

So what is this humble piece of the internet infrastructure, how can hackers exploit it and what kind of mayhem could ensue?
a woman with long dark hair wearing eyeglasses speaks into a microphone Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency director Jen Easterly called Log4Shell ‘the most serious vulnerability I’ve seen.’ Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images News

What does Log4j do?
Log4j records events – errors and routine system operations – and communicates diagnostic messages about them to system administrators and users. It’s open-source software provided by the Apache Software Foundation.

A common example of Log4j at work is when you type in or click on a bad web link and get a 404 error message. The web server running the domain of the web link you tried to get to tells you that there’s no such webpage. It also records that event in a log for the server’s system administrators using Log4j.

Similar diagnostic messages are used throughout software applications. For example, in the online game Minecraft, Log4j is used by the server to log activity like total memory used and user commands typed into the console.

What does the road ahead for cryptocurrencies look like in India?

 India emerged as the fastest-growing crypto market in the world this year. A Bill to regulate it remained a work in progress. So, what's puzzling the government? And how was the year 2021 for cryptos?

Another year has gone by without India getting a firm hold over how to regulate cryptocurrencies.

The divide between the government and the Reserve Bank of India persists.

The RBI is concerned that cryptocurrencies pose financial risks to the country’s macroeconomic stability. The government, however, is reportedly looking at a more accommodative approach, rather than a ban on all private cryptocurrencies.

We don’t know yet what’s inside the proposed Bill to regulate cryptocurrencies.

But Indian crypto exchanges have revealed the questions they’re being asked by the government. Broadly, the conversation over how to regulate crypto is around these queries.

Which is the best authority to regulate crypto? SEBI, RBI or even the International Financial Services Authority (IFSC) in Gujarat’s GIFT City? What are crypto assets? How can crypto exchanges, both domestic and foreign, be registered in India? How to tax crypto transactions? How will exchanges be allowed to list new cryptocurrencies? Do cross-border cryptocurrency transactions violate Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules?

Technology is causing disruptions in banking, says K V Kamath

 Kamath recognized the great transition done by the banks over the last two years during the pandemic, however, the only issue is about how to compete.

Veteran banker K V Kamath on Wednesday exhorted the banking industry to pitch for a level-playing field with technology-driven new-age players, saying that the rise of technology has led to disruption in the financial services sector.

He said that bankers should make a case with the regulator for a level-playing field and the requirement of regulatory reporting should be extended to new age players.

"We now have a digital mindset at all levels, there is the rise of technology and the bank customers are now receptive to change. New players who are coming up and grabbing and leveraging the opportunity in the banking and financial space.

"As long as you are ring-fenced and protected by the regulator, you have the space to breathe ... now you need to see that you have the level playing field with these new players. It appears from a banker's point of view that the playing field is not level.

"I think it is up to us bankers to make the case with the regulator what is required there to make the level playing field," Kamath said while delivering the inaugural address at the 'FICCI-FIBAC 2021' virtual event on Tuesday.

Kamath, who has been appointed as chairman of the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), noted that the disruption caused by these new players in the financial space was bound to happen.

"I hope it happens with a level playing field. Similarly, the regulatory reporting that banks need to have (to RBI) ... I think there needs to be stretched to these players (as well). I think as we move ahead, in the next 6-12-18 months, we need to sort these out as players," he added.

Search engine DuckDuckGo working on privacy-focused desktop browser

 Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo is working on a dedicated desktop browser that will be available on the Mac.

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo is working on a dedicated desktop browser that will be available on the Mac.

The browser will "redefine user expectations of everyday online privacy." It will ditch individual privacy settings in favor of an approach that enables privacy protections by default across search, email, and general browsing, the company claims.

"It is not a 'privacy browser'; it is an everyday browsing app that respects your privacy because there is never a bad time to stop companies from spying on your search and browsing history," the firm said in a statement.

The desktop browser will sport a clean and simple interface with the Fire button from the mobile versions, which instantly clears all tabs and browsing data with just one click.

The browser is currently in a closed beta test on macOS, but DuckDuckGo is getting it ready for Windows as well. There's no word on when the desktop browser will become publicly available.

According to the company, compared to Chrome, the DuckDuckGo app for desktop is cleaner, way more private, and early tests have found it significantly faster too.

Launched in 2008, DuckDuckGo's search engine is far behind Google but the latest controversies around user data privacy have helped it gain momenta like Telegram and Signal.

Did market correction make new-age stocks value buys?

 The recently-listed companies, especially from the digital space, have tumbled nearly 50% from their recent highs following the correction. Yet, market watchers don't see them as value buys just yet

The recent bout of profit-booking has eased concerns surrounding valuations in the market. At the headline level, the benchmarks have corrected nearly 10 per cent from their record high levels while individual stocks have tumbled nearly 50 per cent from recent peaks.

Among these, shares of recently listed companies, especially from the digital space, have been the worst hit.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa), PB Fintech - the parent company of Policybazaar, Tega Industries, Tarsons Products, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, SJS Enterprises, Indigo Paints, Anand Rathi Wealth, and Glenmark Lifesciences hit their respective lows since listing on December 20.
Further, 50 per cent of the companies listed in the past two months are trading below their issue price, including RateGain Travel and Technologies, Star Health and Allied Insurance, Paytm, and Policybazaar

And analysts say the worst may not be over for some of them yet.

G Chokkalingam, founder and chief investment officer at Equinomics Research, for instance, suggests investors should carefully analyze the business prospects of each of these companies before making an investment decision.
Gaurav Garg, head of research at CapitalVia, echoes a similar sentiment and says that the current market sentiments have put almost all the IPOs on backfoot and we have seen muted listings on most of them. I think in the current market situation, most of the blue-chip companies with strong balance sheets are available at decent valuations. Investors should look at buying them and can wait for a few quarters more to see the performance of recently listed companies.

The so-called hurried decision to hit the market by new-age companies followed a strong bull run and a gush of liquidity in the markets.

According to an analysis by Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, the year 2021 saw the highest-ever IPO volumes in the country with the volumes surging to $15.3 billion, as against $4.2 billion in 2020.

That means the Street saw more IPOs in 2021 than in the year past three years combined, both in the number of listings and the amount raised.

Advent International picks up majority stake in Encora for $1.5 billion

 Warburg Pincus, the present majority shareholder, would be a minor partner

Private equity (PE) major Advent International has acquired a majority stake in Encora, a global digital engineering services company with innovation labs in India and the US, for $1.5 billion. As part of the agreement, Warburg Pincus, the existing majority shareholder of Encora, has sold its stake and now retains a minority shareholding.

“We are thrilled to enter into this partnership with Advent as we continue to scale our differentiated software engineering service offerings,” said Venu Raghavan, chief executive officer (CEO), Encora.

He added, “Advent’s deep business and technology services sector expertise, along with its global footprint, complements Encora’s strengths and creates opportunities to grow our business in key markets around the world.”

Encora is an established leader in outsourced software product development services, using deep technical expertise in machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), data science, cloud services, and other next-generation digital engineering disciplines to accelerate strategic innovation for tech-enabled companies.

The deal signifies some of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity and demand for companies in the product engineering services space. Earlier this year, Hitachi had acquired GlobalLogic in a $9.6 billion deal, one of the largest in the engineering & research and development (R&D) space.

The engineering and R&D space has, in recent times, become a significant focus for large players as engineering is a key component in the digital transformation story. For the digital segment, it is digital or software product engineering, which is the backbone of all software platform development and digital plumbing.

When will FPIs start buying Indian equities?

 So far in December, foreign portfolio investors have sold equities worth over Rs 33,000 crore. This trend is expected to continue for the rest of 2021. When can investors get a respite from FPI selling?

The bull run in the Indian equities has been toppled by persistent selling by foreign investors. Since October, FPI counterparts have sold equities worth Rs 33,805 crore. Of this, Rs 14,300 crore, or 42 per cent, was offloaded in December alone. Analysts believe FPIs started taking some money off the table ever since indices hit new all-time highs and valuation discomfort emerged.
The benchmark Sensex hit its all-time high on October 19. This, coupled with concerns that the interested regime could turn less benevolent, triggered selling as emerging markets are affected badly when interest rates go up. And since India has been a large recipient of FPI flows, there is heightened selling. The weakening of the rupee due to the rise in the current account deficit is also tilted against India.
That apart, some of the sale in secondary markets was also because of investment options in the primary markets. For example, in December so far, FPIs are net buyers in the primary market to the tune of Rs 11,782 crore. Let’s go to Vaibhav Sanghvi, co-CEO of Avendus Capital, to understand what’s driving FPIs away from EMs, including India.
That said, while most analysts expect the trend to remain a key overhang on the domestic equities in the short term, there are some who are optimistic about FPI activity in 2022. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, for instance, sees the current FPI activity as “profit booking” and not “selling”.
“FPIs have been sitting on big profits on bank stocks which they accumulated during 2015-20.

Vedanta continues its support against the Covid-19 pandemic in Zambia

 Vedanta Limited has significant operations across India, South Africa, and Namibia

The Zambian subsidiary of resources giant Vedanta Resources Ltd has further committed to assisting the fight against the increasing number of Covid-19 infections in the southern African nation.

On Monday, Vedanta distributed 4,000 masks to commuters, adding to the 10,000 masks already distributed to the communities living around its operations in Zambia.

Vedanta remains committed to helping Zambians in their battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. With the new variant posing a significant threat to public health, Vedanta reaffirms its commitment to help support the communities in the best way it can, Vedanta said in a statement.

As a concerned corporate citizen, this act by Vedanta goes some way in cushioning the public from the adverse effect of the Covid 19 pandemic, said Dr. Moses Banda, Country Director for Vedanta.

In view of the rising case numbers of the new omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus recorded in Zambia, (Vedanta) has moved in to raise public awareness and has distributed thousands of re-usable face masks in Chingola and Chililabombwe, he added.

Banda said Vedanta was also supporting schoolgirls who often miss classes because of a lack of sanitary items.

To the young schoolgirls, Vedanta has donated 1,000 reusable sanitary pads and 6,000 reusable facemasks.

A company representative recently attended International Day of the Disabled, in order to better understand how Vedanta can assist further, not only in the disabled community but also wider vulnerable women groups, Banda said.

Sony Pictures Networks India, Zee Entertainment sign merger agreement

 The agreements follow the conclusion of an exclusive negotiation period during which ZEEL and SPNI conducted mutual due diligence.

Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPNI) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) on Wednesday announced that they have signed definitive agreements to merge ZEEL with and into SPNI and combine their linear networks, digital assets, production operations, and program libraries. The agreements follow the conclusion of an exclusive negotiation period during which ZEEL and SPNI conducted mutual due diligence. After closing, the new combined company will be publicly listed in India. The closing of the transaction is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory, shareholder, and third-party approvals.

Under the terms of the definitive agreements, SPNI will have a cash balance of $1.5 bn at closing, including through infusion by the current shareholders of SPNI and the promoters (founders) of ZEEL, to enable the combined company to drive sharper content creation across platforms, strengthen its footprint in the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem, bid for media rights in the fast-growing sports landscape and pursue other growth opportunities.

Punit Goenka will lead the combined company as its managing director & CEO. The majority of the board of directors of the combined company will be nominated by the Sony Group and will include the current SPNI Managing Director and CEO, N P Singh. In closing, Singh will assume a broader executive position at SPE as chairman, Sony Pictures India (a division of SPE) reporting to Ravi Ahuja, SPE’s chairman of Global Television Studios and SPE Corporate Development.

While SPNI will own a 50.86 percent stake in the merged entity, Zee’s founders will own 3.99 percent, according to an exchange filing from Zee. The remaining 45.15 percent will be with public shareholders as part of the definitive agreement.

SBI's PE arm hikes climate fund's target 5 times to Rs 2,000 crore

 SBICap Ventures has already got a commitment from European Investment Bank (EIB) for about Rs 215 crore.

State Bank of India’s private equity capital arm has scaled up the target for its Climate fund by five times to Rs 2,000 crore on growing emphasis on investments in clean technology and environment-friendly businesses.

This climate and environment-focused fund started off with a corpus of Rs 400 crore. When it approached the market for commitment, it got good traction from global investors. This led to the scaling up of its corpus target, SBI group executives said.

SBICap Ventures, an SBI group company that is managing the fund, has already got a commitment from European Investment Bank (EIB) for about Rs 215 crore. It is also talking to financial institutions from Japan and the United Kingdom for commitments. Investment by a Japanese agency is likely to be over Rs 200 crore. Neev Fund II will invest in Indian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It will provide growth and expansion capital to companies offering solutions for clean energy, electric vehicles, efficient use of raw materials and water as well as circular economy projects.

It will enable India’s innovative and emerging companies to fund their growth through equity or quasi-equity instruments.

Besides overseas investors, a clutch of domestic financial institutions is also going to invest in the Neev II fund. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has indicated that it will commit Rs 160 crore. The total commitments are expected to touch Rs 1,000 crore by the end of this month. SBI has given a fairly sizable commitment that is about Rs 400 crore (20 percent of the fund corpus).

SBICap Ventures expects to have the full fund up and running by June 2022. Work has also commenced on making the investment. It has made commitments of Rs 275 crore into three companies, including two in waste management and another in pollution control technology.

Honda Motorcycle starts export of NAVi bike to the US market

 Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Tuesday said Honda de Mxico has initiated exports of NAVi bikes to the US market.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Tuesday said Honda de Mxico has initiated exports of NAVi bikes to the US market.

HMSI had commenced the export of NAVI CKD kits to Mexico in July 2021 and has so far dispatched over 5,000 kits to the country.

"The NAVi deliveries to the US market via Honda Mexico has further strengthened our export portfolio in advanced markets, the new expansion has given us an opportunity yet again to set new standards of global manufacturing quality in India," HMSI Managing Director, President, and CEO Atsushi Ogata said in a statement.

Honda NAVi is a crossover, which combines the advantages of a scooter with the characteristics of a motorcycle.

The product that originated from India is garnering a cult following with great success in overseas markets.

HMSI started NAVi exports in 2016.

Since then, the company has dispatched over 1.8 lakh to 22 diverse export markets led by Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Battered Paytm gets its first bullish rating from a major broker

 Morgan Stanley has started coverage on the digital payments startup with an overweight rating and a price target of 1,875 rupees, which implies a 43% upside from Tuesday's close

India’s digital payments giant Paytm has received a bullish rating from a major broker after a dismal listing and a spate of bearish views since then.

Morgan Stanley has started coverage on the digital payments startup with an overweight rating and a price target of 1,875 rupees, which implies a 43% upside from Tuesday’s close. It sees attractive risk to reward after the stock dropped to a record low earlier this week, and values the firm at $17 billion.

Paytm’s “profitability should improve sharply as financial services scale up” with the company breaking even at operating profit level in the fiscal year 2025,” analysts including Sumeet Kariwala wrote in a note on Tuesday.

The U.S. bank’s view is in contrast with its peers such as Macquarie Group Ltd. and Goldman Sachs, which have underperformed and neutral ratings, respectively, on the stock. Among India-based brokers, Dolat Capital Market Pvt., earlier this month rated Paytm a buy and set a price target of 2,500 rupees. Both Morgan Stanley and Goldman were among bankers for the stock’s issue.

One 97 Communications Ltd., Paytm’s parent company, raised $2.5 billion in its IPO but a 27% plunge in its Nov. 18 debut made it one of the worst initial showings by a major technology firm since the dot-com bubble era of the late 1990s. The stock is now down nearly 39% from its issue price of 2,150 rupees.

What ails Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019?

 After two years of deliberations, a parliamentary panel submitted its recommendations on India's Personal Data Protection Bill. Let us see what implication it may have on the privacy rights of citizens

The 30-member Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019, headed by BJP MP PP Chaudhary, presented its much-awaited report recommending several changes to the draft bill.
Some of the proposed changes to the Bill include having a single Data Protection Authority (DPA) for personal and non-personal data and provisions for localization and cross-border flows of data.
MPs including Manish Tewari, Mahua Moitra, Jairam Ramesh, and Derek O’Brien gave dissent notes to the committee. Congress MP Manish Tewari rejected the Bill in its entirety, citing an inherent design flaw. 

The contentious Clause 35 highlighted by Tewari gives wide-ranging powers to the government to exempt any of its agencies from the purview of the data protection bill for purposes of ‘security of the state’, ‘friendly relations with foreign states’ and ‘public order.

While the Bill seeks to promote a free and fair digital economy, it increases the compliance burden on startups with its burdensome rules on data storage and transfer.

Sebi bars launch of new derivative contracts for wheat, other commodities

 Markets regulator Sebi on Monday directed stock exchanges not to launch new derivative contracts in wheat, crude palm oil, moong, and a few other commodities till further orders.

Markets regulator Sebi on Monday directed stock exchanges not to launch new derivative contracts in wheat, crude palm oil, moong, and a few other commodities till further orders.

The latest directive will come into force with immediate effect, according to a release.

Launch of new contracts for the paddy (non-basmati), wheat, soya bean and its derivatives (it's complex), crude palm oil, and moong have been barred till further orders by the regulator.

The list includes chana, and mustard seeds and their derivatives (its complex). The derivative contracts in these commodities were suspended earlier this year, the release said.

In respect of running contracts, no new position will be allowed to be taken, and only squaring up of position will be allowed.

The directions will be applicable for a period of one year, it added.

India offers huge opportunities in EV space: US auto component maker Dana

 Dana has 18 facilities in India, which include joint ventures as well as a recently launched dedicated EV drivetrain manufacturing facility in Pune

American auto component maker Dana has said that India offers huge opportunities for the company in the EV space and it continues to invest in all its facilities depending upon the demand.

The company earlier this year made a minority investment in Switch Mobility to develop electric vehicle (EV) drivetrains with Ashok Leyland's electric commercial vehicle arm.

Dana has 18 facilities in India, which include joint ventures as well as a recently launched dedicated EV drivetrain manufacturing facility in Pune.

"We are extremely bullish on the high-voltage market. We believe that there is a huge opportunity to tap for Dana which is why investing in the electrification products and increasing our localization to as much as 60-70 percent," Gajanan Gandhe, country head-India at Dana, told PTI.

It will help the company remain in the lead to support all the requirements coming in India, especially following the announcement of the PLI scheme that requires companies to localize and also invest up to a certain level, which Dana is doing, he said.

Dana is a leader in electrification, especially in the high-voltage segment.

Stating that it is quite optimistic about the growth in electrification, he said that even on the low-voltage side where Dana supplies to the two/three-wheelers and small commercial vehicle makers, it sees opportunity, especially in the last-mile mobility.

"We see a good opportunity (in these segments also), especially in the last-mile mobility," Gandhe added.